|
Workplace
Diversity
Still a
Pipe
Dream in
Most
U.S.
Newsrooms
By Nora
Happel/IPS
News
UNITED
NATIONS
(IPS) -
Although
the
United
States
as a
whole is
becoming
more
ethnically
diverse,
newsrooms
remain
largely
dominated
by
white,
male
reporters,
according
to a
recent
investigation
by The
Atlantic
magazine.
It found
that
just
22.4
percent
of
television
journalists,
13
percent
of radio
journalists,
and
13.34
percent
of
journalists
at daily
newspapers
came
from
minority
groups
in 2014.
While
the
percentage
of
minority
groups
in the
U.S. has
been
steadily
increasing,
reaching
a recent
total of
37.4
percent
of the
U.S.
population,
the
number
of
minority
journalists,
by
contrast,
has
stayed
at a
constant
level
for
years.
This is
particularly
true for
the
share of
minority
employment
at
newspapers,
which
has been
staggeringly
low –
between
11 and
14
percent
for more
than two
decades,
as
illustrated
in a
graphic
by the
Pew
Research
Center
and the
American
Society
of News
Editors
(ASNE).
Many say
it is a
major
problem
for a
field
that
strives
to
represent
and
inform a
diverse
public,
and
worrisome
for a
medium
that has
the
power to
shape
and
influence
the
views
and
opinions
of mass
audiences.
“Journalism
must
deliver
insight
from
different
perspectives
on
various
topics
and
media
must
reflect
the
public
they
serve.
The risk
is that
by
limiting
media
access
to
ethnic
minorities,
the
public
gets a
wrong
perception
of
reality
and the
place
ethnic
minorities
have in
society,”
Pamela
Morinière,
Communications
and
Authors’
Rights
Officer
at the
International
Federation
of
Journalists
(IFJ),
told
IPS.
Under-representation
of
minority
journalists
has
negative
effects
on the
quality
of
reporting.
Speaking
to IPS,
Alfredo
Carbajal,
managing
editor
of Al
Dia (The
Dallas
Morning
News)
and
organiser
for the
ASNE
Minority
Leadership
Institute,
said,
“The
consequence
[of
ethnic
minority
groups’
under-representation]
is that
news
coverage
lacks
the
perspectives,
expertise
and
knowledge
of these
groups
as well
as their
specific
skills
and
experiences
because
of who
they
are.”
ASNE
President
Chris
Peck
added:
“If
newsrooms
cannot
stay in
touch
with the
issues,
the
concerns,
hopes
and
dreams
of an
increasingly
diverse
audience,
those
news
organisations
will
lose
their
relevance
and be
replaced.”
Commenting
on the
underlying
reasons,
both
Carbajal
and Peck
underscored
the lack
of
opportunities
for
minority
students
compared
to their
white
counterparts.
“Legacy
journalism
organisations
have
relied
too long
on an
established
pipeline
for
talent.
It’s a
pipeline
dominated
by
white,
mostly
middle
class
and
upper
middle
class
connections
–
schools,
existing
journalism
leaders,
media
companies.
It’s
something
of a
self-perpetuating
cycle
that has
been
slow to
evolve,”
Peck
said.
This
argument
is
echoed
in a
recent
analysis
by Ph.D.
student
Alex T.
Williams
published
in the
Columbia
Journalism
Review.
Confronted
with the
claim
that
newspapers
cannot
hire
more
minority
journalists
due to
the lack
of
university
graduates,
Williams
took a
closer
look at
graduate
and
employment
statistics
provided
by Grady
College’s
Annual
Graduate
Surveys.
He found
that
minorities
accounted
for 21.4
percent
of
graduates
in
journalism
or
communication
between
2004 and
2013 – a
number
that is
“not
high”
but
“still
not as
low as
the
number
of
minority
journalists
working
in
newsrooms
today.”.
The more
alarming
trend,
he says,
is that
only 49
percent
of
graduates
from
minority
groups
were
able to
find
full-time
jobs
after
their
studies.
Numbers
of white
graduates
finding
employment,
by
contrast,
amounted
to 66
percent.
This
means
the
under-representation
of
ethnic
minorities
in
journalism
must be
traced
back to
recruitment
rather
than to
graduation
numbers,
he
concluded.
A main
reason
why
minority
graduates
have
difficulty
finding
jobs,
according
to
Williams,
is that
most
newsrooms
look for
specific
experiences
such as
unpaid
internships
that
many
minority
students
cannot
afford.
Also,
minority
students
are more
likely
to
attend
less
well-appointed
colleges
that
might
not have
the
resources
to keep
a campus
newspaper
or offer
special
networking
opportunities.
Another
reason
is
linked
to
newspapers’
financial
constraints.
Peck
told
IPS:
“There
is a
challenge
within
news
organisations
to keep
a
diverse
workforce
at a
time
when the
traditional
media
are
economically
challenged,
even as
new
industries
are
actively
looking
to hire
away
talent
that
represents
the
changing
American
demographic.”
Further,
union
contracts
favour
unequal
employment,
according
to Doris
Truong,
a
Washington
Post
editor
and
acting
president
of
Unity,
who was
quoted
in 2013
article
in The
Atlantic.
“One
piece of
this
puzzle
is
layoff
policies
and
union
contracts
that
often
reward
seniority
and push
the most
recent
hires to
leave
first.
Many
journalists
of color
have the
least
protected
jobs
because
they’re
the
least
senior
employees.”
Different
ideas
and
initiatives
have
been put
forth to
increase
the
representation
of
minority
journalists.
Amongst
the
ideas
expressed
by
Pamela
Morinière
are the
inclusion
of
diversity
reporting
in
student
curricula,
dialogues
in
newsrooms
on the
representation
of
minority
groups,
making
job
offers
available
widely
and
adopting
equal
opportunity
and
non-discrimination
policies.
Chris
Peck
emphasises
the
importance
of
“home-grown
talent”:
“Identifying
local
students
who have
an
interest
in
journalism
and that
have a
connection
to a
specific
locale
will be
a
critical
factor
in the
effort
to
diversify
newsrooms.
It’s a
longer
term
effort
to
cultivate
local
talent.
But it
can pay
off.”
“Second,
I think
it is
important
to tap
social
media to
explain
why
journalism
is still
a
dynamic
field
and
invite
digital
natives
to
become
part of
it,” he
said.
Civil
society
organisations
such as
UNITY
Journalists
for
Diversity,
a
strategic
alliance
of
several
minority
journalist
associations,
aim at
increasing
the
representation
of
minority
groups
in
journalism
and
promoting
fair and
complete
coverage
about
diversity,
ethnicity
and
gender
issues.
The
Asian
American
Journalists
Association
(AAJA)
is part
of the
alliance.
It seeks
to
advance
specifically
Asian
American
and
Pacific
Islander
(AAPI)
journalists.
Its
president,
Paul
Cheung,
told
IPS:
“AAJA
believes
developing
a strong
pipeline
of
talents
as well
as
diverse
sources
are key
to
increase
representation.”
“2015
will
mark
some
significant
milestones
in
AAJA’s
history.
AAJA
will be
celebrating
15 years
of
training
multi-cultural
high
school
students
through
JCamp,
20th
anniversary
of […]
our
Executive
Leadership
programmes
and 25
years of
inspiring
college
students
to enter
the
field of
journalism
through
VOICES.”
Ethnic
minority
journalists
are not
the only
under-represented
group at
news
outlets
in the
U.S. and
around
the
world.
The
Global
Report
on the
Status
of Women
in the
News
Media
states
that
women
represent
only a
third of
the
journalism
workforce
in the
522
companies
in
nearly
60
countries
surveyed
for the
study.
Seventy-three
percent
of the
top
management
jobs are
held by
men,
while
only 27
percent
are
occupied
by
women.
“When it
comes to
women’s
portrayal
in the
news,
the
situation
is even
worse,”
Pamela
Mornière
told
IPS.
“Women
make up
only 24
percent
of
people
seen,
heard or
read
about.
They
remain
quite
invisible,
although
they
represent
more
than
half of
the
world’s
population.
And when
they
make the
news
they
make it
too
often in
a
stereotypical
way. The
impact
of this
can be
devastating
on the
public’s
perception
of
women’s
place
and role
in
society.
Many
women
have
made
their
way on
the
political
and
economic
scene.
Media
must
reflect
that.”
Edited
by Kitty
Stapp |